flattening any conflict that Robby has with a woman to misogynistic assholery is missing about 95% of the nuance. first of fucking all, most of the characters on this cast are women. sometimes he's not an ass because it's a woman, sometimes it just happens to be a fucking woman.
there's some bias in the way he treats Baran, but again, not the main focus. Baran is a direct threat to Robby, on a professional and personal level. Administration is clearly trying to push him out, backing him into a corner, disrespecting him. much of this isn't Baran's fault, but she's the face of it, and part of it. professionally, he's fucking pissed for a few reasons, and has every right to be— not that he's handling it well.
on a personal level, Robby is vulnerable and insecure. Baran is laughing with Dana, conversing easy with Jack, and even Dennis is saying "she seems cool!" none of this is bad, but to Robby, it's devastating. he's not in a stable state, and his entire support system seems to agree that yes, we like the person who's supposed to take robby's place.
now, they don't mean it as a personal attack, and they don't mean it in a way that means they hate Robby or want her as replacement forever, but Robby is in crisis. everything about Baran is unintentionally reinforcing on both a professional and personal level that he is not needed, and he is a failure. and since he struggles with toxic masculinity and has been burying everything for so long, his emotions of hurt come out as anger instead.
Robby was starry-eyed after Baran saved that little boy's life, and told her to "take the win" before the alarming fall to undermining her and saying this department will fall to shit with her. he doesn't even necessarily hate baran, but she represents everything he's afraid of. that the department won't fall to shit. that they don't need him. that they probably don't even want him, wouldn't choose him. he's a cornered dog, and he's biting. when he insists people need him, it's another facet of his subtle begging for reassurance. (please tell me you need me.)
I've talked about the Robby and Samira dynamic at length, but it's not just because he's somehow an evil racist misogynist that he's harder on her. he sees himself in her, and since he hates himself so much, that's not a good thing. he does also believe in her, but is shit at showing it. he doesn't want her to turn into him. etc etc I could go on.
I saw someone say "it is misogyny. he would've NEVER yelled at a man like that." we are not watching the same show. frank langdon got yelled at three different times in season 1, one of those taking place before Robby knew about his addiction, and in front of others.
when you say Robby would give a white man so much more leeway, you're really just thinking of Dennis. he doesn't like ogilvie, either. "ogilvie, put your hand down." "keep your fucking mouth shut." neither of those are good mentorship or leadership moments, and he clearly favors Joy.
this isn't excusing his actions, but the point is that he's being a dick to EVERYONE. that is the WHOLE fucking point I fear. like. the point is to show the deterioration of Robby. that is. the point.
while it's important to call out bias, when it's every take I see, (and usually not a nuanced take in that discussion either, mostly just how Robby is the devil from the bible and he puts "hating women" on his calendar every day), it is so fucking tiring. you are flattening this fucking show. robby's flaws are a lot more complex and nuanced and compelling. yes, they are flaws, but no, he's not evil.
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